Resistance measurement



H. A. W. KLINKHAMER.

RESISTANCE MEASUREMENT.

APPLICATION FILED APR-24.1920.

1,378,547. Patented May 17,1921.

UNITED STATES- PATENT, OFFICE.

RESISTANCE mnasunnmnnr.

Specification of Letters Patent. 7 Patented May 17, 1921.

2 Application fl1ed-Apri124, 1920. Serial No; 876,409.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENDRIK A RAHAM VVIJNAND KLINKHAMER, engineer, a subject of the Queen of the Netherlands, residing at Hengelo, the Netherlands, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Resistance Measurements, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to improvements in apparatus and the electrical circuits thereof for the measurement of resistance.

The primary object of the invention is to provide for an apparatus of the character mentioned, and one wherein a direct reading of the measurement of resistance is obtained on a scale forming a part of the apparatus.

Another object of the invention is to provide for an apparatus of the type set forth, and one in the use of which, accurate direct readings are obtained with a minimum amount of current being utilized in the circuits of the apparatus and a wider range of constants or reduction factors are obtained than has heretofore been possible in the prior art.

A further object of the invention is to provide an apparatus of the kind mentioned,

and one wherein the known resistance thereof may be varied throughout. an extremely wide range from minimum to maximum, which minimum and maximum limits of range are dependent upon the maximum allowable current flowing through the circuits on the one hand and the sensibility of 1tlhe measuring instrument used on the other and.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention resides in the certain novel arrangement of instruments and cir- "cuits as will be hereinafter more fully described, set forth in the appended claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a diagrammatical plan view of a known 3,). rangement of circuits and instruments for the measurement of resistance,

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatical plan view of one arrangement of circuits and instruments of the present invention,

Fig. 3 is a modified arrangement of the form as shown in Fig. 2, and

Fig. 4 is the preferred or practical form 0 the invention as distinguished from those in Figs. 2 and 3.

Referring to the drawing, and more particularly to Fig. 1 thereof, wherein is shown diagrammatically a simple Wheatstone bridge form of electrical apparatus for the measurement of resistance," the same consists' of resistances R,R,,- R and R each having a fixed known value; a variable resistance R interposed across the circuit between resistances .R,R on the one hand, and resistances R R n the other; a battery source of current supply E and an un- I known resistance XR interposed in the circuit between resistances R -R,; and leads CC connecting a measuring instrument Gr in shunt across the several arms of the resistance circuits. .The battery E is of a type havirzg a constant E. M. F., and the instrument 1 is an ammeter having a scale reading in ohms-and from which the value of the resistance XR to be measured may be read directly.

In the use of this apparatus, the scale reading of the instrument G must be multiplied by a scale constant obtained ,from the difierent adjustments of the variable resistance R which constant or reduction factor, according to the general practice and rule,

is a multiple of 10, 2'. 6., 1, 10, 100, 1000, etc. i

In this apparatus, the relation between the current (I) flowing through the instrument G andthe unknown resistance XR across /the measuring terminals is obtained from the equation XR =R 1 wherein I, represents the current passing through the instrument G when XRzo and R, the total resistance of the bridge as measured across the terminals of the latter after the unknown resistance XR is taken away.

Correspondingly with the variation of R the value of R varies also, and it is a feature of this arrangement that I does not vary but is always equivalent to the current I,

passing through the instrument G at full deviation of its indicating pointer. 'Therefore, the relative value of XR to I is obtained in the equation 1, 10, 100, 1000, etc., correspondingly with the adjustment of R When the numerical values of the fraction v I are indicated on the scale of the instrument at the positions of the indicating pointer thereof corresponding with I,-these numerical indications must be multiplied with a constant B, which the constant or reduction factor, varies, the current passing through the instrument Gr remains the same, when XRzo, as is indicated by the result obtained from the .equais dependent upon thevariation of R to tion: find. the value of XR, the unknown re- 7 E R R sistance to be measured. The value of R I then is to be considered as the reduction fac- R 1+ a R9+R10 I tor of the pp u and the greater the and it is possible to use the same scale for range in Variation of 5, the greater will he difl'erentranges,the reading, however, having range of readings to he obtained on the tobemultipliedcorrespondin ly with the conihstrumeht and it therefore, desirable! stant or reduction factor R gbtained in each to give to the resistance 5 the greatest P instance. Therefore, it is necessary to vary Sible range of Varietioh- The maximum the resistances so as to make -the following gree of Sensibility of the instrument G1 i relation true in accordance with the equafixed by the maximum range of R and the i minimum degree of the same is fixed by the maximum value of the battery current. E l i 1 (3) In the form of theinvention, as shown in R 8 ed- 10 2, an arrangement of Circuits is Shown wherein I represents the current of the inas consisting of a main circuit a containing Strument @2 at full deviation the resistance XR to be measured, having This formula or equation I may be one leg connecting a branch or local circuit 6 deduced as follows containing resistances R, and R and an ammeter G and the other leg a second branch or local circuit 0 containing the resistances I (11 Z)R,,+R R and R and a battery E The main cir- Z+R +R cuit a connects the circuit 6 at a point be- I R tween the instrument G and the resistance I =I' R andvthe circuit 0 at a point between the 9+ 11+ 5 battery E andnthe resistance R,,, thev other i hi h sides or branch of the main circuit containing the resistance R as at d, connecting Z: R8731 these circuits 6 and 0 at points between the 7+ s I resistances R and R and the resistances R and and R respectively. 7 B

In this arrangement, when the total rex m sistance of the main circuit is R without the s resistance XR to be measured, then the relvtth the total Feslstflnce between the lation between XR and I is again obtained termma-ls for measunhg then from the equation R i I -1 R=Z+RH+RQ+RIO XR =R 9 10 Now b th t th R y varying e arrangemen ,so at D R,,+R

E2 R9 R8 I I 9+R1 R- +R Z+R +It I p I 2 R R H+ Q+ IO H+ Q 9+ 11+ 8 Z+R +R,

E2 RBRB 1I+ Q+R1O( +RU+ Q 7+ 8 I R 1 RR R9R8' o 9 10+ 10 e io -R7+R8 ,R,+RI, R, +R-

I I E2 RQRS 9 +R o 1o+ a 10+ 10 1+ a It will be readily obvious that, since themain circuits a and d being electrically coupled to the branch or local circuits 6 and c, the greater the current flowing through the instrument or ammeter G the same being the result of a certain current in the main circuit, the greater will be the degree d of coupling effect between the circuits, 7;. e.,

- a current I, in the main circuit will cause a current may therefore be defined as 'the degree of coupling effect of the main circuit w-d with the battery circuit 0. When both the V ammeter circuit 6 and the battery circuit 0 current equals when the maximum 211- are connected in on the main circuit a--d, the relation is However, with theammeter and battery circuits b and 0 having both of their-legs electrically coupled in on the maincircuit, the" value of I is to be multiplied by any of the of the main circuit with degrees of coupling circuits, as follows from the branch or loca the deduced formula or equation for I For proving that the whole range of the instrument or ammeter G as in the present invention, is greater than with the known arrangements for measuring resistance such as is illustrated in Fig. 1 of the drawing, it is necessary to calculate the maximum of R and the minimum of R of the reduction factor for both cases, and also,to prove that certain things may be neglected or otherwise dispensed with for the sake of simplicity, the numerical values of a prac-' tical application of the arrangement as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawin is given, as follows, so as to better judge 0 the order of magnitude of the values :R,:R :1985O0 ohms; R :R :15O ohms; 1 :63.10" amperes. E':12V; R :r:O ohms (1' being the resistance of the'instrument or ammeter G As an ammeter is used, the same being a very sensitive instrument of the pivoted suspension type of indicator such as is readily obtained in the market and of lower current consumption, it is assumed in the present instance, that the batterycurrent does not exceed 40 milliamperes, therefore I :0.040 amperes.

In the arrangement, Fig. 1, the battery lowable battery current is designated I the smallest possible value of allowable value of R, consequently f 'R is maximum, when R,= co, then R +R are connected in parallel with R As may be seen from the values as given, R,+R, is

very great in comparison with R so any error or mistake made in the measurement will be very small or negligible, if the current through R -l-R is neglected, as regards -to the current passing through R Then the battery current W equals the current through the ammeter and this current equaling I when XR:0, it is evident that v R I. In the arrangement shown in Fig. 2, R

is maximum when R 0o; R =r (the in-' E II 2 R (6) I A very small value R of the reduction factor may be obtained from R zo R,:r and R =R,,; if R has such-a small value that the battery produces the maximum allowable current I If the measuring terminals of the arrangement of Fig. 2 are short-circuited, the.

arrangement as in Fig. 3 is obtained, in which case, the current 1,, branches into the ammeter Gr with the resistance r and the shunted branch resistance R As before stated, the current flowing through any of the instruments or ammeter G in each instance, must be I when XR;:0, which is' to say in the case of Fig. 3, R must be chosen sothat' As in the example applying'to practice I :I :6.10* :40.10' :().0015, it is evident that I may be eliminated in regard to 1 so that R =2r and since R =o, it is also evident with regard to Fig. 2, that, when the measuring terminals are short-circuited, the resistance ,of the main circuit is obtained from R R +R since, according to the above, R LR used, 1'; I E and L, then have the same value in both cases, and consequently by using formulas (5) and (6), it is evident that the maximum reduction factor value is the same in both arrangements.

theminimum reducing factor value, obtaining in the known arrangement Fig. 1, 1s

reduced 1 times in the arrangements of 411 the present invention. I

Designatin the voltage sensibility of the ammeter as li E zr I so that the minimum reducing factor value is reduced m times.

In the example ven herein, it was assumed that E (E E or 13*):12 volts and E :750.6.l0 :0.04=5 volts, and, therefore, the lowest limit of the reducing factor value, according to this invention is 12:4 0.045:67, z. e., the minimum reducing factor value being 67 times smaller than in the known arrangement.

In Fig. 4 of the drawing, wherein is shown a practical and preferred form of the invention, having 5 ranges, and the same consists of a main circuit including the battery E conductor 0 connecting one side of a split plug socket e,resistance R connect= ing the otherjside of the split socket a, conductor 0 connecting the resistance R to one terminal of an ammeter G conductor 0 leading from the other terminal of the ammeter Gr to a measuring terminal t, and a conductor 0 leading from the other side of the battery E to another measuring terminal 25 between which terminals t and t the unknown resistance XR is connected. Extending in parallel to each other are a pair of resistances A-B and HK, the resistance A'B being shunted around the ammeter Gr and the resistance HK around the battery E Connecting the resistances A-B and HK.in series parallel are resistances R R, and R and a short-circuit connection LM, each resistance R R, and R and the connection LM having a split plug socket complementa-l thereto, eachdesignated 6.

In the apparatus, making use of the same ammeter and battery, as in the other examples herein given, as :G:750 I 6.10- E=12 I =0.04() and assuming re- It then fol-' lows that by using the formulas (4) and (7 choose the ranges in such way that the rela-' tion of the reducing factors to be obtained are 1:10 100:1000 :10000. y

The range is chosen by plugging into one of the plug sockets, as is usual in instru- I ments of this type, but the uppermost limit of a reducing factor is not reached by the simple changing over of a plug from one socket to another, and to obtain a periodical instrument or ammeter, the oscillations of the indicator of the latter. are damped by reason of the resistance AM-B being always connected across the terminals of the instrument or ammeter. The resistances in this preferred form of the invention may have any value, it being understood, .however, that for all ranges, the condition of 1 :1 is fulfilled, and, consequently, some of the resistancesmay have a value 0 or o. Compensation for any decrease in battery voltage, and of any temperature influence may be provided for in any-of the known apparatus of this character, as by using a small rheostat connected in/series with the ammeter or with the battery. V

In the development and design of an instrument according'to the present invention, errors or mistakes occurring in the results of measurements made are so small as to be not perceptible, especially when the resistances are suitably and accurately chosen.

Having thus fully described the invention, what I claim is 1. An arrangement for the direct reading of electrical resistances comprising a main circuit including the resistance to be measured, a branch resistancecircuit including an ammeter associated with said main circuit, a second branch resistance circuit including a source of current supply associated with said main circuit and said first mentioned branch circuit, and means for varying the resistance of said main circuit mentioned branch circuit, the degree of coupling of one of said branch circuits with said main circuit being constant, and means for varying the resistance of said main circuit and the degree of coupling of the other of said branch circuits with-respect thereto, whereby different reducing factors are obtained for the same division of the scale of said ammeter.

3. An arrangement for the direct reading of electrical resistances comprising a main circuit including the resistance to be measured, a branch resistance circuit including an ammeter and associated with said main circuit, a second branch resistance circuit including a source of current supply and associated with said main circuit and said first mentioned branch circuit, the resistance of one of said branch circuits beinginfinite and the degree of coupling of said branch circuit with said inain circuit being constant, and means for varying the resistance of said main circuit and the degree of coupling of the other of said branch circuits with respect thereto, whereby different reducing factors are obtained for the same division of the scale of said ammeter.

7 stant connection with said main circuit, a

second branch resistance circuit including a cuit, and means for varying the resistance of said main circuit and the degree of coupling of said last mentioned branch circuit with respect thereto, whereby difi'erent re-- ducing factors are obtained for the same division of the scale of said ammeter.

5. An arrangement for the direct reading of electrical resistances comprising a main circuit including the resistance to be meas: ured, a branch circuit including infinite resistance and a source of current supply having constant E. M. F., and having constant connection with said main circuit, a second branch resistance circuit including an ammeter associated with said main circuit and said first mentioned branch circuit, and means for varying the resistance of said main circuit and the degree of coupling of said last mentioned branch circuit with respect thereto, whereby different reducing factors are obtained for the same division of the scale of said ammeter.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

HENDRIX ABRAHAM WIJNAND KLlNKl-IAMER. 

